In a matter of less than five minutes US$ 50 million worth of diamonds were stolen from the runway of Brussels Airport, reports say. The heist, believed to be one of the biggest for the industry was orchestrated by eight armed men on Monday. The men made a hole in a security fence of Brussels' international airport, drove in two vehicles onto the tarmac and stole the diamonds from the hold of a Swiss-bound plane, reports say. The entire heist was carried out without a single shot fired, and the robbers escaped out from the same hole made in the perimeter fence. The police have so far found a burnt-out vehicle close to the airport.

According a statement issued by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), ‘Armed robbers took off with around US$ 50 million worth in diamonds, both rough and polished stones’. The statement also notes that Antwerp stands as the world's prime diamond trading hub; 8 in ten of all rough and half of all polished diamonds are traded in Antwerp. Also, Antwerp carries with it a repute of being a highly secured diamond centre. The statement also read that ‘We find it hard to understand how a robbery such as yesterday's heist could take place. We are currently awaiting the results of the investigation but we do fear the damage for Antwerp, the world's leading trade centre, is significant. We choose to transport goods via airplane, precisely because of the safe and controlled nature of this means of transportation. We do hope additional security measures can be put in place in order to safeguard a fluent and safe transport of diamonds’.